고유어/사자성어 (Korean Native Tongue)

만장일치 (consensus) is used when all the congregated people have the same opinion.

Meaning: 만 “be full of”, 장 “year”, 일 “one”, 치 “guide”

만장일치 (consensus) refers to a situation when all people gathered in a place are of the same opinion. When everybody agrees with an item, we say “만장일치 찬성 (a unanimous agreement)”, on the other hand, when everybody disagrees with an item, we say “만장일치 반대 (a unanimous disagreement)”. This word is often found in political systems or frameworks.

조금만 조용히 해 주시겠어요? (Could you be quiet a little bit?) : We use the expression ‘조금만 –아/어 주시겠어요?’ when we ask someone politely such as in ‘조금만 조용히 해(quiet) 주시겠어요?’.

일상회화 (Korean Conversation)

We use the expression ‘조금만 –아/어 주시겠어요?’ when we ask someone politely such as in ‘조금만 조용히 해 (quiet) 주시겠어요?’, ‘조금만 비켜 (step aside) 주시겠어요?’ and ‘조금만 옆으로 가 (move over) 주시겠어요?’. This expression is used when we disturb someone or when we are in the situation that we have to ask to be excused.

신조어 (New Coinage)

스펙 : The proof of various abilities which job seekers have

‘스펙’ is from the English word ‘spec’ which is the contraction of ‘specification’, and it means the characteristic, function or performance of a certain product. By the way, we began to use the word ‘스펙’ as the meaning of ‘취업을 위해 갖추고 있는 능력 (ability which is needed for finding a job), by comparing the job seekers to the products as if they are the products sold to the company. We often say ‘스펙이 좋다/나쁘다 (spec is good/bad)’or ‘스펙을 쌓다 (build a spec)’, and we use it for anything needed for finding a job such as in ‘스펙 관리 (spec management)’, ‘외모 스펙 (appearance spec)’ and ‘합격 스펙 (pass spec)’.

Lately, the word ‘스펙’ earned a negative meaning as people use ‘스펙’ for almost everything which would help with finding a job such as school ties, regionalism, blood ties and even appearance which does not have anything to do with ability or skill.